Braid the moonlight
by Faith Lacking
Summary: A one shot story centered on an underrated saiyuki character, Gojun. Set in gaiden. Goku is constantly following Gojun, but what does he want? Will Gojun put up with him? FF.net seems to keep messing up my fic, hope it works this time!


A short little fic, semi dedicated to one of the most underrated characters in Saiyuki, and also semi dedicated to gaiden, which is also very underrated. Slight hint of Kenren x Tenpou.  
  
It wasn't uncommon for him to walk through the hallways alone, in fact it would probably be more unusual if someone was following him. For this dragon king, he preferred solitude, especially if he had to deal with that God forsaken general.  
  
He strode down the hallway, heading towards the barracks as he passed by a room, paused for just a moment, and looked out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"KONZEN! Come on! I'm bored!" A young child was tugging on Konzen's robes, as the man twitched in annoyance. "I want to play! I want to pick flowers! Put away the paper work and play with me!" The boy was getting very obnoxious at this point, his voice shrill and loud.  
  
Of course at that point, it was unbearable.   
  
"SHUT UP YOU DAMN MONKEY! Cant you see I'm BUSY?!" Konzen smacked a piece of paper at the boy, only succeeding in making him whine louder.  
  
"KONZEN!!"  
  
Gojun shook his head and made a light snort, thankful he didn't have to deal with the boy. He'd recently discovered that Konzen, the ever boring God of paper work had been assigned the job of taking care of the heretic child. It was an odd request, everyone in heaven knew Konzen was a loner, and a bit eccentric. Who in their right minds would give a child to this man? Much less one that had the mentally of an infant, new to the world and easily exposed to new things.  
  
'What a daunting task.' He thought to himself as he continued walking down the hall. He still had quite a bit of time before the meeting too place at noon, and more than likely, because of Kenren's shenanigans, many of the soldiers would probably be late. Gojun was always on time, always early. Tardiness was a major pet peeve for him, especially in the military.  
  
"Why did I get stuck with that idiot...?" Suddenly, there was the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. Gojun narrowed his eyes, pausing in step as did the second pair of footsteps. He continued on, so did the other person. 'Who the hell...?' He wasn't in the mood for jokes, and for all he knew it could have been an intruder sneaking up on him. He whirled around quickly, hand on the hilt of his sword. "Okay, you've got ten seconds to expla-!" He paused, twitching slightly at the oh-so-terrifying stalker.  
  
The boy picked his head up quickly, staring at the man in awe, before a huge smile crept across his face. "Hello!"  
  
"...Goodbye." Gojun turned away quickly, hoping to get away from the boy. But to no avail as the footsteps followed again. '...Oh Gods...'. He stopped, then turned around again. "What do you want? Why are you following me...?"  
  
Gold eyes met with red, as the small boy smiled again. "I'm Goku! What's your name?"  
  
"None of your business..."  
  
"Nonofyourbusiness? That's kind of a weird name!"  
  
Gojun slapped his forehead, before kneeling down to the boy's level. "That's not my name idiot...Why are you bothering me?" Goku immediately ran behind Gojun, as the man raised an eyebrow. "What are you do-!" He makes a partial shriek as the boy pulls on his neatly braided white hair. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU BRAT!?"  
  
"This! This! Tell me how you did this!!"  
  
"Did WHAT?!"  
  
"This thing! With your hair! Tell me tell me!"  
  
Gojun was a bit dumbfounded for a moment, before starting to stand up. "Don't be annoyi-" He makes another small noise as the boy is still holding onto his hair. "Will you..." he pulls his hair away from the annoying child "..let GO?" He twitches slightly and starts to walk off again.   
  
But the boy relentlessly followed. His shackles footsteps followed behind Gojun's long strides as the man twitched. He thought if he moved fast enough he could possibly lose the child, then get to work. Then a thought occurred to him.  
  
'If this brat stalls me any longer I'll be late for that damned meeting...' His pace quickened as he tried to get away from Goku. He moved quickly down the hall. 'Maybe the brat will take a hint and go away...' He looked over his shoulder, hoping the boy had lost interest and left to entertain himself, but he was close behind, trying to keep up. His eyes continued to stare at the braid with awe, and he smiled up at Gojun.  
  
This went on for about 20 minutes, before Gojun was about ready to run as a last resort. He suddenly got an idea. He rounded the next corner quickly, but instead of continuing to stride on, he hid in a small concave against the wall, hoping the shadow would conceal him. The child went around the corner and ran right past him, sprinting down the hall.  
  
Gojun let out a quiet sigh of relief, as he left his hiding place and started heading in the direction of the meeting among the other soldiers. As he took a few steps, suddenly there was a tug on his cape. A chill ran up his spine as he slowly turned his head around. 'Gods don't let it be....'  
  
Gold eyes stared up at him, and a big smile planted on a young boy's face. "You hide really good mister! Since I found you can you tell me how you made your hair?"  
  
The man slapped his forehead, twitching as he tried to think of a plan. "Okay...okay fine... How's about I meet you in the library tomorrow afternoon, then I can show you...?"  
  
Goku seemed thoughtful, before nodding his head quickly. "Okay!" he piped up cheerfully. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" As quickly as he came, he was gone, footsteps running off to find something else to do.  
  
Gojun snorted slightly. 'That idiot will probably forget and that will be the end of my troubles...how annoying...' The dragon king turned around, then looked around his surroundings. "....God dammit the meeting already started 10 minutes ago and it's on the other side of heaven....I'll kill that brat for this....!!" He ran off quickly, running like he never had before through the corridors.  
  
"Nice to see you finally made it." Kenren snorted as Gojun came running up, out of breath and face red.   
  
"Shut .... the hell ... up ... General... " he sneered at Kenren, eye twitching. "I dont need your commentary..."  
  
"Man, you were later than me, and I got here 20 minutes ago."  
  
"...I ran into a roadblock..."  
  
"Did you now?" Kenren raised an eyebrow, looking very amused. "Normally when something gets in your way you kill it."  
  
"I haven't kill you yet have I?" Gojun snorted.  
  
Kenren batted his eyes. "That's because you love me so much."  
  
"...........I hate you."  
  
Because of Gojun's tardiness, the higher officer decided to make him write a research paper on the beginning of the heaven military, and how it has improved in the last several thousand years. Gojun was very displeased to say the least.  
  
The next day, Gojun was sitting in the dining room having coffee with Tenpou. "I cant believe this...an essay paper for being late? How juvenile..."  
  
"You should be thankful." Tenpou murmured, sipping from his mug and reading a book about species on earth. "Whenever Kenren is late, they make him wear iron chains for a week, and if he's late anywhere he has to wear them another 3 days." He smiles up at Gojun.  
  
"...You're a creepy bastard, you know that right...?"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
Gojun sighed, rubbing his temples. "Whatever. Do you have any books I could look at?"  
  
"Unfortunately, I was never really into those kinds of things, so I don't have any books I can loan to you."  
  
"...You're in the military and you don't have any books about it's history...?"  
  
Tenpou smiled up at him again.  
  
"..." Gojun could feel his head starting to throb. "Okay then...do you know anywhere I can find any?"  
  
"You could try the 'vault'." He flips through his book nonchalantly.  
  
"...The vault?"  
  
"Kenren's code name for the library." He give another smile to the man. "Would you like some more coffee?"  
  
"...I think I'll be leaving now." Gojun stood up, pushed his chair in, gave Tenpou a look, then walked off shaking his head. 'I knew those two were strange.' He starts stalking off to the library, letting out another long sigh.  
  
"This is all that stupid child's fault..." He goes to the huge doors of the library and pulls one open. "I swear when I find him I'll..."  
  
A loud voice suddenly rang in his ears. "HEY!!! You finally showed up!!!"  
  
'...Oh son of a-'  
  
Goku jumped off the table he was sitting on, and ran across the huge library and up to the tall man. "I waited a really long time!" He holds up his hand. "See see! When I came in the sun was here!" He put his arm up straight in the air. "And you finally got here and the sun is here!" The boy motioned his hand going downward steeply.  
  
"Okay, I get it." Gojun made a snort as the boy starts bouncing in front of him. "What the hell are you so excited about?"  
  
"Because! Because! Today you said you'd tell me how to do that thing with you hair!"  
  
"Oh...right...you're not serious are you?" He moved over to some books, trying to look busy. "I have an essay to write. That's what a grown up does. Grown ups work so they dont get in trouble."  
  
Goku kept close to him, looking a bit pouty. "But mister! You said today we could!"  
  
"Well that's a shame isn't it? Maybe later kid."  
  
"But...why not now?"  
  
"I said later." Gojun gave the boy a glare, grabbing a random book off the shelf.  
  
Goku stared at him for a moment, before his shoulders slumped and he looked down at the floor with a defeated expression. He spoke in a quiet voice as he turned around. "All right...I'll go then..." He rubbed his eyes a bit before moving away.  
  
Gojun watched and noted his actions. He rolled his eyes a bit before groaning. "Fine fine... I'll teach you how to braid hair...but I dont have all day, dammit."  
  
The boy perked up and was by his side again. "Okay!"  
  
Gojun took Goku near the back of the library, the last thing we wanted was that general to come in and see him braiding hair like a girl. He'd never live that down. There were a leather seat and stool in the back, as he instructed the boy to sit on the stool.  
  
"I'm going to braid my hair, and you watch exactly how I do it. I swear I wont do it twice."  
  
Goku nodded eagerly, watching with wide eyes. The dragon grabbed the bottom of his long hair, then pulled out the tie keeping the hair in place. Then he started to unravel it, as silver hair flowed around him.  
  
"Wow...." Goku said quietly.  
  
"...what?"  
  
Goku took some strands, they felt silky under his fingers. "You're hair is really pretty. Not as pretty as Konzen's, but still really really pretty!"  
  
There was a snort from the man, as he pulled his hair away from the boy. "Whatever you say. Now shut up and watch." He took his hair and pulled it over his shoulder so Goku could see easier. He moved his fingers quickly and twined his hair into a braid. He had done it so many times it wasn't uncommon for him to do it so fast.  
  
Goku stared and tried to remember everything he was doing. "That's how you do it...?"  
  
"Yes. Now it's your turn."  
  
"Okay!" He dove forward, grabbing Gojun's braid.   
  
The man gave him a light punch on the top of his head. "Not my hair stupid...yours."  
  
Goku gave an embarrassed giggle, rubbing his head. "Right. Sorry..." He grabbed his own long hair and pulled it over his shoulders, "Okay...I think I can do this..." His fingers fumbled with his hair, trying to do exactly what Gojun had done. "Just give me a minute...!" After a few minutes, his hair became more knotted than braided, as he makes a noise of annoyance. "It's not working...!"  
  
Gojun stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to gather his patience as he moved over to the boy, grabbing his hands. "Here...like this..." The dragon guided the boy's hand, helping him braid his own hair. Goku seemed pleased as he played around with his braid.   
  
"Yay! Thank you so much mister!" He beamed up at the man. "Just lemme try one more tim-"  
  
"No."  
  
"Pleeeeease?" Goku whined softly, tugging on Gojun's robes. "One last time honest please!"  
  
Gojun looked ready to smack him, but changed his mind and rolled his eyes. "Last time. Here. Use my hair, and if you knot it I will seriously kill you, brat."  
  
"I'll do really good! Honest!" Goku gingerly took the hair, unravelling it as he smoothed it out. He enjoyed the shine from Gojun's hair, kind of like the sun, but not. 'Maybe like the moon...' He started moving his fingers into Gojun's hair, delicately working with him.  
  
Gojun shifted a bit, this was the first time he allowed anyone to braid his hair, let alone touch it. For some reason, it was soothing and calmed him. He relaxed into the chair and allowed the boy to do what he wanted. "You're not messing up my hair I hope." He muttered, hoping to throw off any suspicion that he was enjoying this.  
  
"Yeah! I'm about half way done!"  
  
"Take you're time. Dont mess up." Gojun snorted.  
  
Goku nodded and continued braided Gojun's long hair, before he finally got to the bottom and put the tie on. "There! Finished!" He said proudly, letting go of the hair.  
  
Gojun raised an eyebrow, pulling away from the boy and examining the braid. "Not bad for your first time, kid." He said with a very slight smirk. "So now what are you going to do?"  
  
There was another wide grin. "I'm going to go play with Konzen!" He bounced out of the chair. "Thanks again mister!" He started to run off.  
  
"Dont call me mister. It makes me feel old. My name is Gojun."  
  
Goku smiled. "Okay! Thank you again, Gojun!" He bounded out of the room, his braid waving behind him.  
  
Gojun shook his head and got up, ready to work on his essay now. 'What a strange child...' he thought to himself.  
  
Gojun gave out a loud yawn as he walked down the corridors the next afternoon. He had spent the entire night working on the essay and finally got it done. He had all his papers together, cracking his neck a bit from stiffness. "Thank Gods that is over with."  
  
He walked down a familiar hallway, before a loud shrill voice rang out.   
  
"GOD DAMMIT, SARU!! HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO BRAID MY HAIR?! THAT'S THE NINETEENTH TIME!!!"  
  
Another voice came out, slightly nasally and young. "BUT KONZEN! IT MAKES YOU LOOK PRETTY!!!"  
  
Gojun walked past the open door, peeking in and saw the boy trying to tackle Konzen down to braid his hair, as the dragon snorted slightly, and smirked as he continued down the hallway. 


End file.
